What future for real estate investment? Last September, Le Trends Tendance looked at the outlook for the Belgian real estate market.
To fuel the start, they called on a panel of experts: Gaétan Clermont, Etienne de Callataÿ (Orcadia Asset Management), Guido de Crombrugghe, Sébastien Verstraete (residential investment properties director at CBRE), Bernard Kepenne, Eric Verlinden (CEO de Trevi), Frédéric Sohet (Deloitte), Robert de Mûelenaere (delegate administrator of the Construction Confederation), Julien Manceaux (economist at ING), Pierre-Alain Franck (IPSI).
Here are the ten questions/answers that emerged:
What alternatives to real estate?
Sébastien Verstraete recalls that the Belgian real estate market is a stable investment since it “provides between 35 and 45 times more than an investment in the bank on a savings account”.
For the band’s economists, equity investment offers a greater return, but they recognize the more volatile aspect of such an approach.
What is the best residential investment today?
The answer is unanimous: a small apartment to renovate in the city. It would be a certain investment with a return of 4 to 4.5% gross.
Important factors to consider are future green standards and location. In addition, it may be interesting to think about neglected sectors such as logistics and nursing homes.
What is the worst investment?
Robert de Mûelenaere explains to us that a bad investment is “badly valued housing, badly located and whose energy performance is mediocre”.
To sum up their comments, the worst investments are properties that do not correspond to the future ecological transition, a villa with four facades beyond €500,000, housing poorly served by public transport as well as large apartments.
Where to invest?
An evidence: in the cities. In Belgium, Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent are in the spotlight.
According to Robert de Mûelenaere, it is interesting to invest “in any region where demand is greater than supply, and where demand will increase further. Neighborhoods that are at the start of a revaluation process are also interesting avenues”. What will be the future of real estate investment in Belgium? We detail everything for you.
What return can we expect today?
For a new apartment in town, the gross rental yield will vary between 3 and 3.75%.
An investor for a renovated apartment in the city will get 4 to 4.5%.
The yield fluctuates between 5% and 6.5% for cohabitation in Brussels
Is the decrease in the number of owners a good deal?
According to our experts, it would in fact be a simple return of things. Julien Manceaux wishes to recall that the rise in homeownership was a purely political choice favored by the housing bonus. These revised policies and the ecological standards that arrive, the drop in the number of owners is a return to normal.
However, Pierre-Alain Franck hopes that large investors will not obtain the monopoly of the market because that would lead to an inflation of rents.
How will real estate prices evolve in the coming months?
Here are the forecasts for price increases in 2019 from the Trevi and ING groups
Trévi
Flanders: Apartment: 3% – House: 3%
Brussels: Apartment: 5% – House: 6%
Wallonia: Apartment: 3% – House: 4%
ING:
Flanders: Apartment: 4% – House: 4%
Brussels: Apartment: 5% – House: 5%
Wallonia: Apartment: 3% – House: 3%
Mortgage rates at rock bottom, for a long time to come?
The rise in rates is not expected before 2021 according to the experts cited.
What are the factors that will support the real estate market in 2020?
Low mortgage rates of course.
Etienne de Callataÿ and Bernard Keppenne add “the positive impact of the tax shift on household income and the low level of mandatory returns, which could divert investors to real estate”.
What are the main uncertainties weighing on the Belgian real estate market?
The first concern is the environmental transition which will lead to new requirements.
Julien Manceaux also mentions the measures that the National Bank wishes to take to limit too much indebtedness of individuals.
Now that you are informed about the future of real estate investment in Belgium. If you want to learn more about the real estate world, check out our blog . Indeed, it is full of interesting articles dealing with this field. Or go daydream about our available properties .